USA Rare Earth seeks more deals, growth to break China’s hold

The soon-to-be president of USA Rare Earth Inc. wants to bulk up through more acquisitions and new projects in an aggressive push to challenge China’s dominance and become the US leader in rare earth production.

“There’s optionality for both organic and inorganic growth at each step of the supply chain,” said Thras Moraitis, chief executive officer of Brazil’s Serra Verde Group and incoming president of USA Rare Earth, after the companies announced a $2.8 billion deal on Monday. “Each of our businesses are going to look for opportunities, and our job is going to be to vet those opportunities.”

The combined companies will keep seeking deals specifically in the mining and magnet-making stages of the rare earth supply chain, while focusing on “organic growth” for processing the material, added USA Rare Earth CEO Barbara Humpton in a joint interview.

The tie-up underscores a broader push by US and allied countries to build alternative supplies of rare earths, a group of 17 elements essential to electric vehicles, wind turbines and military hardware. Despite years of investment, China still dominates mining, processing and magnet production, leaving Western governments scrambling to support new entrants.

The deal, which will see USA Rare Earth pay a combination of stock and cash for Serra Verde, adds an operating mine in Brazil to the Oklahoma-based company’s portfolio, which already includes a deposit in Texas, a processing plant in Oklahoma and a metal-making facility in the United Kingdom.

“We’re just in the early innings for establishing a platform for growth,” said Humpton.

USA Rare Earth has undertaken a flurry of transactions since it went public through a reverse takeover last year. The company completed an acquisition of Less Common Metals Ltd. in 2025, giving it possession of a metal and alloy manufacturer. It took a 12.5% stake in Carester SAS earlier this month in a bid to obtain the French company’s rare earth processing expertise.

The firm also received $1.6 billion in proposed funding from the US Department of Commerce in January, which is conditional on reaching key milestones on the buildout of core projects.

Through the Serra Verde acquisition, the company is also adding veteran dealmakers to its highest-ranks. Moraitis served as head of strategy and corporate affairs for Xstrata Plc before it was purchased by Glencore Plc in 2013.

Mick Davis, chairman of Serra Verda, is one of mining’s better-known dealmakers, having built Xstrata into one of the largest mining companies in the world while he was CEO. He will become a director at USA Rare Earth.

The company aims to grow through acquisitions in mining and magnet-making, said Humpton, though there are few opportunities to buy processing plants.

For processing, “it’s going to have to be organic growth, because we simply don’t have the metal-making capability outside of China,” she said. “We’re going to have to grow it ourselves.”

(By Jacob Lorinc)